ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. — The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office continues its investigation into the deaths of six people at the Spanish Lakes subdivision in St. Lucie County where a tornado touched down Wednesday.
Sheriff Keith Pearson says deputies are still going building to building including several that were toppled by the strong winds.
The Sheriff says his team removed 25 individuals from the neighborhood of largely older, manufactured homes.
WPTV Reporter Dave Bohman was at the news conference and asked the sheriff if crews are still looking for survivors.
“Wednesday night, and even Thursday was a search and rescue mission. Is it fair to call it a search and recovery?” asked Bohman.
“I’m going to stay optimistic all the way through, but we know the reality of it is a lot of elderly people have medical conditions,” responded Sheriff Pearson. “We’re going well beyond 48 hours. That means 48 hours with no medicine, 48 hours with no food.”
Sheriff Pearson said one of the challenges of the operation at Spanish Lakes is that his teams can’t get an accurate accounting of those who might be missing.
The sheriff says many park residents are snowbirds and others may be renters, according to the Sheriff, and his teams cannot tell if the seasonal residents are in this area or still up north.
